LAKEWOOD | Maya Evans won the long jump at the Class 4A state track meet with one jump Thursday, but she didn’t stop there.
Vista PEAK’s freshman phenom came into the first event of the opening day of the three-day meet at Jefferson County Stadium as the No. 2 seed, but crushed the competition from her first takeoff to her last.
Surpassing the coveted 19-foot barrier on every one of her successful attempts during prelims and finals, Evans secured the young school’s first state championship with style. With runner-up Madalyn Brashears of Fort Morgan posting a best jump of 18-4 3/4, Evans’ only real competition came against herself as she continued to raise the bar.
Evans’ best jump turned out to be 19 feet, 9 1/4 inches, nearly six inches better than her previous season best of 19-3 1/2, and the best in Colorado this season regardless of classification according to Coloradomilesplit.com.
It wasn’t enough to top the 4A state meet record of 20-5 set by 2005 by Niwot’s Griffin Matthew, but that mark sure looks like it could fall to Evans in the future.
Brashears threw down the gauntlet a bit a couple of weeks earlier, when the jumpers went head-to-head at the Colorado 7 Championship meet. Evans had been the state leader for virtually the entire season, but Brashears popped a jump of 19-4 1/2 to grab the No. 1 seed ahead of state.
Evans’ came away from her first day at the state track meet pretty exhausted, as she also ran in the prelims of the 100 and 200 meter dashes.
Clocking a time of 12.00 seconds in the 100 prelims — which makes her the top seed going into the finals at 10:37 a.m. Saturday – Evans had just enough time to report for the second flight of long jump, so she was able to warm up with the rest of her competitors.
On the tail end of a long day, Evans conserved energy and eased across the finish line in the 200 prelims in 25.25 seconds, the third-best time in the field. The 200 meter dash finals are slated for 1:18 p.m. Saturday.
Next up for Evans is running with Vista PEAK’s 4×100 meter relay team in the prelims at 9:15 a.m. Friday.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
CLASS 4A GIRLS LONG JUMP
1. MAYA EVANS (VISTA PEAK), 19 feet, 9 1/4 inches; 2. Madalyn Brashears (Fort Morgan), 18-4 3/4; 3. Alexis Carroll (Niwot), 18-0 1/2; 4. Shiloh Burger (Longmont), 17-4 1/2; 5. Alli Davis (Durango), 17-2 1/4; 6. Ali Artzberger (Thompson Valley), 17-0 3/4; 7. Nikki Strickler (Wheat Ridge), 17-0 3/4; 8. Alex Hallenberg (Skyline), 16-11 1/2; 9. Miranda Gallegos (Durango), 16-9 3/4
